A Church and a chapel

In the Serra do Mar, between Ubatuba and Taubaté lies the town of Redenção da Serra.

Going to Redenção coming from Taubaté the first thing you see is a derelict church with a wall around it and some houses on the edge of a muddy end of a lake. This is the old church. Redenção used to be a nice little place in a valley.

It was the first town in the state of São Paulo to free its slaves; on the 10^th of February 1888, even before the “Lei Aurea” came into power on May 13 1888. Also because of this fact in the first half of the last century the name of the town was changed from Santa Cruz de Paiolinho to Redenção da Serra. Driving into town right across the bridge there is a large statue to commemorate the abolition. The statue was made by José Demetrio, a well known local sculptor in the Paraiba valley.

In the 70-ties the demand for electrical energy was growing. The solution to the problem was to build a dam in the Paraibuna river. Then the dam came…. And the old town of Redenção was flooded. The church on the high ground still stands but is slowly falling apart. Now it is protected by a wall against the water. When we were there the water level was low. But the water can rise until almost the top of the wall.

For the inhabitants there was no option to stay. They either could go away and start a life in another city or they could move to a new town on the hill a kilometer to the east.

The new town is build on a steep hill. In the middle is a square with a bandstand. Every Saturday morning you can listen there to typical music from the countryside. 

But there are also other cultural happenings. When we were there The “Prismáticos”, a street circus group from Argentina, were performing for the children of Redenção.

A bit to the side of the town lies a chapel with great views to the lake. The chapel is not used, but it has beautiful bright colored murals painted in the eighties by Mestre Justino (born in Redenção). 

It is a pity that the chapel lies derelict. The paintings have been restored and deserve to have more admirers. The perfect place to enjoy the view on the end of the day….. 

The salt mine in Turda

Being afraid of heights means automatically that you are afraid of depths. So I was on “red alert” going into the salt mine at Turdo (Romania). I had no idea what surprises to expect. Just a picture in a guide of something deep down in the mine that to me looked a bit “alien”.  A nice hide out for the Martians. 

At the entrance there is a staircase with (around) 100 steps. Long corridors that shine in the light of the lamps. 

When you touch the walls they feel smooth and wet. In the upper part of the mine (Franz Joseph) there is the altar for the miners that prayed there before going down. 

There is also an old machine to extract the salt and some other rests from the mining times.

An old wooden staircase is covered in salt. 

To go further down you can choose between wooden stairs and two elevators. The first elevator is busy. This means waiting for some time on a wooden platform (partly metal). 

The view was killing. It takes some time, but then you adapt a bit. The urge for taking pictures starts to equal the fear…..  Then you notice that you can walk around the mine on wooden platforms along the walls…..

Finally you get into the “safe” elevator. Don’t think of the depth of about 40 meters underneath this thin metal floor you are standing on. Down at last in the Rudolf mine you discover that there is another elevator….  There is a wonderful view of the Martian space station (some 90 meters below) in the Theresia mine from there. There is the balustrade to lean over……

Yes, after the second elevator you arrive at the space station. It is almost a surrealist experience. A sort of fun park in a mine. 

The lake is 10 meters deep. The view up is astonishing.

Some people complained that there were no salt statues cut out in the mine, "like in Poland"…..  But sure Romania is Romania! I like the mine as it comes. It is fun being there. So different from what I expected. This fantasy space station for the Martians……..